Selecting Your Wedding Venue
One of the most important decisions you will make when planning your wedding is also one of the first: What should be the venue? Selecting a venue can be a daunting task so we have compiled a list of considerations for you to make when selecting which will be the best choice for you!
Question 1: What is the Vibe?
Deciding what type of venue you want will help narrow down your decision process and make the research process a lot easier. The first thing you and your fiancé should do is create a list of “must haves” for your venue choice. Do you want a place that has mountain views, or be by the water? Are there certain foods that you want to be served at your dinner? What do you want the aesthetic to be? Whether you want a barn style, grand ballroom, intimate restaurant, or anything else, all helps narrow down your venue selection. Knowing how many guests you are expecting and how late you want to party can all affect which venue is right for you!
Question 2: What Does the Venue Provide?
Selecting a wedding venue over a DIY location allows a lot of the stress to be passed on to the venue coordinator. They will have all the power supply, bathrooms, tables, chairs, and parking spaces you need for the day. What exactly the venue provides can vary from place to place. Some venues offer full decor packages including simple centrepieces and backdrops, while others provide a “blank space” service where they will open the doors for you but leave everything else up to you.
What the venue provides will dictate a lot of what you will need in regards to vendors and rentals. Catering is the number one thing that can be affected, but other considerations include: What type of chairs do they have? What size and shape table? Some venues will have storage fees if you want to bring in your own chairs, while others may already have the exact style you are looking for! Similarly, if they provide long tables, your floor plan and decor will be a lot different than if they have rounds!
Question 3: What About the Guests?
Once you have created a short list of venues that you really enjoy, the last thing to consider is how they can accommodate your guests. You need to ensure that their guest capacity is less than your expected guest count. A venue too small simply won’t work, but a venue too big won’t either! Don’t book a 200 person ballroom if you are expecting only 50 guests; otherwise, you will be left with all this empty space that will make the room feel dead and unused. You want to make sure there will be enough space for guests and server staff to comfortably navigate the room, but if there is too much space, guests may be left feeling like they are too far away from the rest of the attendees!
Secondly, you should also consider how all of your guests will be getting home at the end of the night. If you have a lot of out of town guests, you should look into booking a room block at a local hotel for them all to stay in. Group rates through hotels give all of your guests a discount on their accommodations and allow the hotel to centralize all the bookings, so you can keep track of who has booked their rooms, who still needs to, and where everyone is staying.
If you have a lot of local guests, think about where they live compared to where your venue is. For example, if most of your guests live in Vancouver or Burnaby and you select a venue in Abbotsford, they will all have to travel 2 + hrs to get there and back. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but don’t expect people to want to party until midnight if they are going to have to drive an hour home afterwards. If you have a lot of people all coming from a similar area, consider booking a party bus or charter to help everyone get there and back without having to worry about staying sober or finding a spot to park their car!
Question 4: What are the Venue Policies?
Before booking, make sure you take the time to review your venue’s policies. Policies will be affected by the type of venue; whether they are a heritage building, outdoor space, event hall, or hotel can change what they are and are not okay with. This, in turn, can change what you can and cannot do. For example, if you really want to have a bubble exit, double check to make sure the venue will approve! Or if you want to have a big dance party, check to see if they have any restrictions on noise levels and last call.
Venues will also have different restrictions regarding decor. Most will not allow open flame candles, throwing rice, and pinning items directly to the wall. Others will have stronger restrictions regarding what you can throw at the ceremony. For example, real rose petals can cause quite a mess, so they may have a cleaning fee, while others (particularly outdoor venues) will not allow silk petals because they can blow away and become litter. Other decor restrictions can include cold sparks, bubbles, confetti, sparklers, and candles. Always make sure to check before you book anything else, so you know you are respecting their rules and are picking vendors that will too!
Question 5: Should I Just Have a Backyard Wedding?
Having a backyard wedding, on the surface, seems like a great way to save money, as you don’t need to worry about the cost of renting a venue, but there are a lot of hidden costs that can be involved. If you choose to have a backyard wedding, be prepared to rent the necessary items rather than relying on the venue to supply them. This includes everything from generators, washrooms, tables, chairs, linens, tents, and even your cutlery! If you have a small guest count or select a caterer that can provide some of these items, this can help, but ultimately, it adds many more considerations when figuring out what needs to be rented or brought in for the day. You will also need to consider how many parking spots your guests will need, where the caterers will set up, and any permits necessary for hosting a special event. If the backyard has neighbours nearby, noise levels and bright lights later into the evening are also a factor.
There are many benefits to having a backyard wedding though! For one, this space can be somewhere personal and meaningful to you and your fiancé. Home weddings provide an intimate setting for you and your favourite people. It is very special to be able to get married in a friend or family member’s home as it has personal sentiment. You will be getting ready in a familiar place and not have to travel for the ceremony or reception. And there is a big perk of being able to just go inside and curl up in bed at the end of the night without having to worry about your transportation home.
Need Help Booking a Venue? Our Planners Can Help!
If the research process to pick a venue is feeling overwhelming, reach out to one of our planners for help! We can take over the research for you and create a short list of venues based on your “must haves” list! Not even sure what you want? No worries! With experience at many of the top venues in Vancouver and across the Lower Mainland, we will work with you to figure out what spot matches your vibes the best. We have done weddings in Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, and beyond! You can also talk to us about booking a destination wedding. If you are leaning towards a backyard event, ask us for our list of rental requirements to make your day perfect.